As IF Times

Source: Nude models gather in NYC to protest Facebook and Instagram’s female nipple ban | Fox News

Protests have been an essential part of the fabric of any society for as long as there have been societies.  They arise because of a grievance that a subset of the population bears at the hands of the greater society.  There have been all kinds of manifestations to exhibit disgruntlement.  In the very extreme cases, people have inflicted self harm by setting themselves on fire as happened recently in front of the Whitehouse and in previous times by Buddhist monks unhappy with political regimes.  The standard form of protest is the wielding of signs and marching and chanting.  Nowadays, most of these signs have spelling errors and the chants are a real stretch, artistically speaking.

One form of protest has been around for hundreds of years and perhaps had its root with the nude horseback ride of the famous Lady Godiva in the 11th century of England.  Lady Godiva was actually a noblewoman who sympathized with the plight of her people that suffered under an oppressive tax regime imposed by her husband, the Earl of Coventry.  The legend goes that the Earl agreed to reduce the taxes if Godiva would ride through the town naked on horseback.  She did so and accordingly, the Earl kept his word. Based on the apparent effectiveness of that nude protest, that tactic has survived to this day as a form of civil protest.

But times have changed, to say the least.  Whereas in the 11th century, when an exposed ankle was scandalous, public nudity certainly held an element of shock.  In today’s ribald world,  nudity has hardly any shock value at all. When nudity of all kinds can be accessed literally by a few flicks of the finger on electronic devices, are there still people out there who are titillated by a nude body?  I’m unsure of how public opinion can be swayed by virtue of having to view a bunch of naked women.  It’s an odd expression of protest since there is no consequence if no behaviors are changed.  Burning of cars and buildings, sure, but mass nudity? Seems iffy to me.  It’s kind of the adult version of holding your breath as a kid until you got your way.

We live in a time when overt exhibitionism is on display everywhere you look.  From various extreme hair colors not found on any natural species on earth; to piercings of body parts that would be considered horrific torture in most societies; to gargantuan facial and body tattoos, the bar level of shock value of the human condition is pretty high.  Simple nudity doesn’t budge the needle at all.  That is not to say that some things aren’t worth fighting for.  If Kate Upton were to ‘protest’ the consumption of red meat for example, people  might be persuaded to hear her out.  But I’m guessing it may take a long time to convince most men.

Source: Japans new naked restaurant wont let overweight diners in#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE#wjkRCI86bEqE

Swimsuit 2014: Cook Islands
Kate Upton
Beach/Rarotonga, Cook Islands, New Zealand
10/29/2013
X157130 TK3
Credit: James Macari

What is it about the need to be nude?  Is there some primal survival residual in people’s genes akin to dogs circling their beds that needs to be satisfied? We know that nude beaches have been around forever and there are certain subsets of ethnic populations that seem predisposed to communal nudity, but the need to be nude seems to be hitting the mainstream stride.  As pleasant as a small minority of people are to be viewed au naturel, that doesn’t apply to most; especially those who are most likely to be nude.  This is why Kate Upton is paid big money to model things and 99% of other people, not.

It’s not as if people can’t satisfy their prurient and voyeuristic curiosities via almost any type of media.  Historically, access to nude images has never  been as ubiquitous as now, probably even in the repressive Muslim countries.  So it seems that the real need is the desire to be nude in public.  The proliferation of restaurants world wide now catering to this ‘need’ is growing and may soon move beyond curiosity stage if there’s enough money in it.  London announced such a place a year ago and since then, it’s been the hottest dining ticket.  You could say it’s the new place to see and be seen.

The new Japanese venue is even more snobby as the article shows.  Not just anyone can get in; they must conform to certain standards of weight.  Ironically, customers have to be thin enough to qualify to eat food. At some level, I get that; who wants to try and eat food if Michael Moore is directly in eye line.  In the restaurant’s defence, it’s not necessarily discrimination, it could be just pragmatic business.  If you are surrounded by Jabba The Hut models, you are unlikely to order the five course tasting menu.  On the other hand, if the restaurant only accepted skinny people with small appetites, they’d likely sell less food.

But we suspect that it’s not the food that’s the draw; most come for the view.